PR chief shares the lessons he learned from high-profile clients

In The New York Times “The Boss” column, Kent Matlock, the chairman and CEO of Matlock Advertising and Public Relations in Atlanta, shared some of the major lessons he has learned from past clients, among them the CEO of the TW Services, and Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are those lessons:

Don’t let others define you. Matlock worked with Richardson when Denny’s—which TW Services owned at the time—was accused of racial discrimination in the ’90s. “[Richardson] didn’t just write checks to settle lawsuits; he asked me what the company could do to improve its practices,” Matlock explained. “He instituted a thorough review and worked with the N.A.A.C.P. on new corporate policies.” Matlock, who is African-American, said people criticized him for working with Denny’s. But, he added, Richardson “taught me never to let anyone define you. We emerged as an even stronger firm, and Denny’s is still here today.”